// on the road
Two old friends reuniting in Durango, Colorado after 35 years. Smiling together at an outdoor spot downtown, green trees and blue sky behind them.
// subscribe
June 1, 2026
A Reunion
On Substack now. Roads dispatches go two weeks before this site.
chasingthebutter.substack.com
Sunset over the Grand Canyon from the North Rim, sun breaking through clouds above the vast canyon, green trees in the foreground.
May 18, 2026  ·  North Rim, Arizona
The Foreign Visitor
Arrived at the North Rim. The canyon is vast. Something ate the potatoes. And last night a feeling showed up that took until morning to name.
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// music
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What a Time
Chasing the Butter · 2026
// latest
A glowing tablet displaying analytics data lies abandoned on a desert roadside at sunset, Monument Valley mesas silhouetted against an orange sky.
THE SAME PRESSURE
The algorithm is just the latest costume. On the pressure that never gives a command, the correction that always finds its way home, and what continuity actually means.
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A man chopping wood outside a farmhouse, a steaming pot beside him
CHOP WOOD, CARRY WATER
On the two kinds of people you already know, and the singular pattern that explains the gap between them. It's not discipline. It's something simpler and harder to name.
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Grocery store shelf
OPTIMIZED AGAINST YOU
Three essays on the gap between what the label implies and what's actually happening inside your body. Gum. Seed oils. Private equity. Systems that were never designed with you in mind.
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SIGNAL
A word game with hidden information. The Caller sees which words are targets and which are traps. The Finder sees the same grid with no markings. Give clues, make guesses, find all 7 targets before 3 lives run out. Play with a friend or solo against an AI Caller.
play
REVERSI
Place a disc. Trap the AI's discs between yours. Every trapped disc flips to your color. When the board fills, whoever holds the most discs wins. Three difficulty levels. Classic strategy, solo.
play
PARKS
The AI is thinking of one of 8 national parks. Ask yes or no questions to narrow it down.
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TYPE
The AI is thinking of one of 20 archetypes. Ask yes or no questions. Narrow it down. Make your guess.
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PEEING OR NOT PEEING?
One person thinks they can fool the others. The group guesses. The accused taps their truth. Five seconds of suspense. Then the reveal.
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THE LIBRARY
Essays on intelligence, effort, creativity, and the practice of making things.
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